Notorious No More: The Villainess Enjoys Feigning Incompetence Volume 1 (eBook)

Hanako Arashi (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
250 Seiten
J-Novel Heart (Verlag)
978-1-7183-3524-0 (ISBN)

Infos

Laviange, the first daughter of House Robur, is known for being disagreeable, irresponsible, talentless in magic, and utterly uneducated. Everyone believes she's completely incompetent-but is she really as useless as they say? The truth is far stranger. This is Laviange's third life. In her first, she was a legendary villainess and genius mage. In her second, she was an ordinary woman who lived to the age of 86-in Japan?! For her third life, she's decided to take it easy. Hiding her magical talent, she happily plays the part of an inept young noblewoman, enjoying the freedom it brings. But her carefree days come to an abrupt end when an outdoor training exercise goes horribly wrong. With the sense of an old lady and the power of an unstoppable mage, her accidental rampage turns her reputation on its head. The most hated girl in high society is about to become its most beloved?! The strongest villainess's riotous comedy begins!

Textauszug

1: (Before Disaster Strikes) It All Begins at the Monthly Dinner Party

“You are a disgrace to House Robur! As if it weren’t enough that you’re barely scraping by at school, you can’t even wield magic properly! Do you know how many times I’ve wished you had never been born?”

My mother, Luciana, slammed her knife and fork against the table with a bang, unleashing her fury. She was my mother in this life, at least. Her features were sharp, but beautiful nonetheless. Her violet eyes and black hair reminded me of the world of my previous life. As I watched her, I was struck by the thought that the expression of fury she wore was such a waste of her beauty.

I swallowed a perfectly cut bite of steak, maintaining my ladylike smile. The rich aroma of meat and spices filled my senses, and I let out a sigh of bliss. Perfection. The steak was cooked just right: Today’s chef must have been the one who liked me.

“Mother, we are in the middle of dinner,” scolded my brother, Mihail, who sat to my left, across from our mother. Then he turned to me and muttered, “That said, it is true that you neglect your studies and rank among the lowest in your class. You bring shame not just to yourself and your family, but to your fiancé. A low capacity for magical energy may be forgivable, but willful ignorance is not. That someone so devoid of shame is my sister is a burden I find most regrettable.”

Mihail’s rebuke wasn’t loud; it remained within the bounds of etiquette. His voice, though cold, was smooth and pleasant—so much so that I hardly paid attention to his words.

He had inherited our father’s golden hair and our mother’s eyes, and his face was the type that would have fit right into an otome game from my previous life. He was the archetypal cool, aloof, almond-eyed love interest. He was nearly nineteen, two years my senior, and was set to graduate next spring from the Royal Academy, a prestigious four-year institution attended by nobles and families from the highest tax brackets.

For commoners, there existed another academy where children could enroll from the age of ten. There, they learned not only basic literacy but also technical skills. They were something like the vocational schools I knew so well from my past life.

A sigh escaped from the head of the table, where a man set down his knife and fork. My father in this life, Laiyevist, was a man with golden hair and deep blue eyes. His features left no doubt that Mihail was his son; the only major difference between them was the beauty mark beneath our father’s left eye, which lent him an undeniable allure. I didn’t know whether he wore a frown because he was tired or simply in a bad mood, but I gave him my most refined smile.

It did nothing to soothe his poor mood. A pity.

As head of House Robur and captain of the Royal Mage Corps in our Kingdom of Rovenia, father was not only a formidable mage but also a hopeless magic fanatic. He was the type who put all of his skill points into his Magic stat, even the points that were supposed to go into Family. Whether it was because of his devotion to his craft or simply by its very nature as a political marriage, his relationship with mother was frosty. Without grandfather’s decree enforcing these monthly family dinner parties, I doubted I’d ever see him at all.

It was then that a trembling voice spoke up from across the table to try to protect me. “Father, please stop mother and brother.”

It was my cousin, who was also my adopted sister, Sienna. She had pinkish brown hair, a blend of her parents’ hues, and her mother’s green eyes, which glistened with unshed tears.

My late uncle, her father, had inherited his mother’s gentle features, with pink-blond hair and deep blue eyes. I’d been told that I took after my grandmother, and truth be told, from the portraits I had seen of him, I could more easily pass for being his daughter than Sienna did.

One year my junior, Sienna had only recently entered the Royal Academy. She was as brimming with energy as a lively fish leaping from the water, and her catlike eyes gave her a charmingly mischievous appearance. I guessed that she inherited that from her mother too.

“Even if it is true,” Sienna added, “I am sure that sister is doing her best. To belittle her so...it is too cruel.” I could tell that, even as she said “sister,” she was vehemently adding “foster” in front of it in her mind.

Her backstory was a tragic one. My uncle had eloped with a commoner, and she had lived her early life as a commoner in town. Then, when she was eleven, a terrible accident took the lives of her parents, leaving her orphaned. Since she possessed cufflinks engraved with our family crest, though, as well as already possessing a strong magical aptitude, she was taken in as a foster daughter of House Robur.

When we first met, her arm had still been wrapped in bandages, and she had winced in pain at the slightest movement. It was most curious. Magic was still circulating through her arm, so it should have been fully healed. When someone was injured or ill, the flow of magic through their body would be disrupted. A magical diagnosis would reveal that immediately.

But analyzing a body without touching it was extremely difficult. Though father and Mihail could do so with ease, my brother had yet to master the skill at the time.

I had been very worried about my new foster sister.

She had lost both parents so suddenly and then been thrust into the aristocracy. Thinking to reassure her, I had smiled and told her, “Things are going to be quite painful.” Only for her to burst into tears and call me terrifying.

Ah, I suppose sensibilities do vary, don’t they?

Ever since, she had been directing her twisted feelings toward me in all kinds of different ways. But I knew her type. She was just a tsundere. I’m sure this was just her prickly way of showing affection in her rebellious teenage years.

“Now, now, thank you, dear,” I said, smiling. “But if you don’t tilt your face three degrees to the right, that expression of yours will be visible to everyone else as well.”

“Sister?!”

With a loud exclamation, she bolted to her feet, knocking her chair over in the process. A sharp crease deepened between father’s brows. My, my, how careless.

“How cruel...” she said with a sniffle.

The way she could summon tears on command—now that was a talent. If only she could have kept that smug little grin hidden at the perfect angle, so that it was visible to me alone, it would have been even more impressive. But alas, she still slipped up on occasion, and as her elder sister, it was my duty to correct her. Practice makes perfect, after all.

Even now, I offered her an encouraging smile. Still, from my vantage point, she still wore the expression of a devil. What a shame, it seemed that my feelings couldn’t get through to her. Her catlike eyes were drawn so sharply upward that her usual cuteness had all but disappeared. Such a waste.

Father sighed, and then gave a curt order. “Enough. Leave.”

Mother nodded in agreement. “Yes, that’s right.”

Sienna gasped in exaggerated shock, though her lips still curled into a smirk. And, now, she had overcorrected herself. She had tilted her head three degrees too far to the right. It looked unnatural. But I did find it rather adorable that, for all her rebellion, she still heeded my advice.

Mihail shot me a brief glare, but did not add his voice to their chorus. How unusual.

“But we’ve barely begun eating,” I said.

Mother’s little tirade had erupted just as we had started on the main course, meaning hardly anyone had eaten anything. It was such a shame. Tonight’s menu was the work of my favorite chef.

More importantly, why were they so invested in my academic performance all of a sudden? Indifference suited them much better. Did they have any idea how difficult it was to make sure I barely passed every term without actually failing?

“You’re being too noisy for dinner,” father said.

“Exactly!” mother agreed. “Someone as useless as you has no right to eat!”

“Oh, poor sister!” Sienna sighed. “At least take some bread with you!”

“I won’t deny that things have been rather noisy,” said Mihail quietly. “Father, my apologies.”

While mother and Sienna misunderstood father’s words entirely, Mihail at least had the sense to take responsibility.

“I meant you two,” father said coldly. Perhaps my mother and sister couldn’t immediately process his words, as the two of them stared blankly at him. “You two are the ones who will leave.”

“What?!” they cried.

And just like that, the view across the table suddenly cleared.

From beyond the closed doors, I could still sense their presence, though no sound reached us. It seemed father had instantly cast a teleportation spell, a silencing spell, and a lock spell all at once.

“If you wish to continue eating, do as you please.”

With that, he let out a sigh and resumed his meal. I merely nodded in response and followed suit.

For the first time, we leisurely enjoyed our meal in complete peace. All of us ate in silence, savoring each bite.

Yet I could still sense their presence outside the door....

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 28.7.2025
• Reihe/Serie: Notorious No More: The Villainess Enjoys Feigning Incompetence
• Illustrationen: Hanako Arashi
• Übersetzer: Hanako Arashi
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Schlagworte: Comedy • female protagonist • Isekai • Magic Academy • monsters • Nobility • Reincarnation
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-3524-5 / 1718335245
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-3524-0 / 9781718335240